Never Lost
by Cody the Kirby
Summary: Red tipped his eyes down allowing his hat to shadow his watering eyes. Delia was silent for a moment, but then she said something Red didn't except.  "You never lost us."


C.T.K: Taking a break from unova chronicles. Thought this up.

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><p>Mt. Silver was an area that was not often explored. Still, that did not stop the older man from going in. the man had short spiky brown hair. He was wearing brown cargo pants and a black and white jacket. As he approached a dead end passage he looked around. His face had a frown on his face. He kicked a rock formation on the ground. At first it didn't seem to do much, but then the back wall slid away revealing a door. The man walked through the door. As he closed it behind him so did the wall. The man looked around the living room. It was small and modest. There was a framed map of Kanto on the wall. Against the right wall was an entertainment system with a flat screen TV and a Wii. In front of the TV was a coffee table and a couch which was currently occupied.<p>

"Where's Red, Gold?"

The boy on the couch was Gold. His hair was black and his bangs hung out from his backwards gold and black cap. He wore a red and white long-sleeved jacket and gold and black shorts. His attention was divided between an event on the TV and the man that walked in.

"He's in his room." Gold raised an eyebrow at the TV. "You seen this kid, Blue? He's pretty good with his Pokémon."

However, Blue had already begun walking back to Red's room. "Talk latter, Gold. I've gotta talk to Red."

Blue walked to the door at the very back of the hallway.

"Red," he called as he knocked. "Red! Come on you got work to do."

Blue finally got tired and opened the door. The room on the other side of the door was sparse. Nothing was on the walls and the only furniture in the room was a bed, dresser, phone, and a computer.

A body lay on the bed with a pikachu and an espeon. The body had a red baseball cap with a white bill that covered black hair. It was wearing blue jeans and a red short-sleeved jacket with black sleeves and a white strip going up the zipper. Underneath was a black shirt.

Blue frowned. "Get up, Red."

The figure on the bed shifted. Raising the hat away from his brown eyes, he frowned and put the hat back. "Oh, it's only you."

"What are you doing, Red?" Blue asked. "We've got work to be doing?"

"Let someone else do it," Red said petting the pikachu. "I'm tired of fighting rockets, anyway."

"It's the Pokémon Master's job to keep the peace," Blue said rubbing his face.

"I don't care, Blue!" Red said, shooting up from the bed. "I'm tired, Blue."

Getting up from the bed, Red walked to his dresser, where a few photos were displayed. Red slumped on the dresser.

"Battling isn't fun anymore." Red sighed. "Last week, a damm Raticate nearly tore Pikachu's ear off." Red slammed his fist on the dresser. A frame fell.

Blue turned to the bed and saw that Pikachu's ear was bandaged.

Blue looked sympathetically to his friend. "They told you this would happen if you took the title."

"But I didn't think it would be this bad," Red said solemnly, as he picked up the downed picture frame. "You know, today would have been our 17th anniversary."

Blue sighed. "Red, you have to let go."

Red touched the picture. "Delia and Ash were the best things that ever happened to me. God, Ash. I've missed so much of his life. I threw it away. And for what? SOME STUPID TITLE!" Red knocked everything off the dresser.

"Red, you know that with the title comes danger. Rocket would do anything to get to you. Leaf nearly got killed. You were trying to protect them."

"But did I need to cut all ties?" Red said turning back to the bed. "Couldn't I have protected them and be with them? I could've taught Ash how to catch a Pokémon, could have seen him off on his journey, could've—"

"Could have what Red?" Blue said walking up. "Could've followed him on his journey, and protected him from Rockets? Left Delia at home? Face it Red, it wouldn't have worked." Blue walked back to the door opening it. "You did the best for them." He sighed. "I'll be in the living room."

With that, Blue left Red with his thoughts. He looked to the two Pokémon on the bed. Espeon sat up and called.

"Esp."

Red sighed. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Red sat on the bed and put his head in his hands. Pikachu snuggled up to him. Red stroked his back. He looked around the room before his eyes landed on the phone

Getting up, he sat down at the phone. He sighed, before picking up the receiver. Punching in a number, he crossed his fingers. As the phone rang, doubts set in to his mind. Maybe she moved, maybe she changed her number. Suddenly, the phone clicked. Red held his breath.

"Hello, Ketchum residence."

Red smiled. He could tell her voice anywhere. She hadn't turned on the monitor, which Red was slightly thankful for.

"Hello?"

Red realized he hadn't said anything. "Uh, hey, Delia. It's me, Red."

Red heard her gasp. There was a long pause making Red think she had hung up, until the monitor switched on. Delia appeared with a sad smile on her face.

"Hello, Red," she said. "It's been a long time."

"Way too long," Red said, his smile mimicking hers.

"So what's the occasion?"

Red adjusted his hat. "Well, uh, today would be our anniversary and, well… I missed you."

Delia kept her sad smile. "I missed you too, Red"

"You haven't aged a day," Red said leaning forward. "you're still as beautiful as the day I married you."

"Always the charmer," she said with a blush. "Shame our marriage didn't last."

"I didn't want you guys hurt."Red said. "I didn't—"

"I know, Red," she said sadly. "I understand why."

"I'm the strongest trainer in the world and I'm not strong enough to lose you and Ash."

"We're stronger than you give us credit for," Delia said.

Red chuckled sadly. "In trying not to lose you, I lost you in the end."

Red tipped his head down, allowing his hat to shadow his watering eyes. Delia was silent for a moment, but then, she said something Red didn't except.

"You never lost us."

Red's head snapped up.

"We know you didn't abandon us. You think we hate you, but we don't," Delia said as her eyes watered "I still love you. Ash still loves you. He looks up to you. He became a trainer to walk in your footsteps. He reminds me of you. He's so much like his father."

Red was still shocked. His tears rolled down his face.

"The only one keeping you from us," Delia said smiling "is you."

Red started laughing, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I guess you're right."

Pikachu jumped up in Red's lap.

Delia smiled. "You know, Red, when you come back you might have to give Pikachu a name."

Red frowned. "What? Why?"

Delia smiled at some unknown joke. "Ash's partner is a pikachu."

Red saw Professor Oak peek out from the corner.

"Delia, your missing Ash's battle."

"Be right there, Professor." Delia turned back to the monitor. "I have to go Red."

Red suddenly got excited. "Wait, Ash is in on TV? What league is he in? Who's he battling? What Pokémon does he have?"

"You should check that out for yourself," Delia said seeing the spark in Red's eyes. "He's done a lot in 6 years, like you. Love you, Red."

Delia hung up then. Red stayed in his seat for a moment before shooting up and going to his computer. He quickly pulled up the league records on his son.

"Wow," Red remarked surprised. "Top 16 in the Indigo League. And his loss was because his Pokémon was being stubborn. If it weren't for that, he could have gone a lot farther. And he won the Orange Islands trophy."

Red continued looking over the records. It seemed with each new tournament, Ash went just a little bit farther. He could see that Ash was now in the Sinnoh League. Red clicked on news footage after Ash's victory over his last opponent.

"Ash, would you tell the people at home your dream?"

"Oh, that's easy," Ash responded with a grin. "I'm gonna be a Pokémon Master."

"Pokémon Master," Red said as the phrase played in his head over and over in his head. "We got competition boys," he said to his Pokémon.

Red started to chuckle. The chuckle soon turned into full blown laughter.

Blue came in the door.

"Red," Blue asked confused. "What's wrong with you?"

"Blue!" Red said jumping out of his chair and grabbing Blue by the shoulders. "Let's have a battle. You and Gold vs. me."

"Red, what's gotten into you?"

"My kid's gunning for my title. I've gotten rusty," Red said throwing on his shoes. "Won't make it easy for Ash. That's no fun."

Red started to move out the door into the cave. He had one thought in his head.

_I wasn't there when his dream started, but I'll sure as hell be there when it ends, and when he surpasses me, I'll have a home to go back to._

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><p>C.T.K: So, just some back story. I chose Red as the Pokémon master for one simple reason. See, Red is the most powerful trainer you can face in a Pokémon game. Then, platinum came out, and he lost that title. Then, Heart Gold came out and Red was once again the most powerful trainer. So he not only had the title, but lost it and then reclaimed it. That makes him epic in my book.<p> 


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